Pliers



(No Model.)

B. A. BACON 8: J. W. BOARDMAN.

STOPPER PULLING PLIERS.

No. 297,658. Patented Apr. 29, 1884.

ing the stopper.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

BELLAMY A. BACON AND JAMES W. BOARDMAN, OF HARTFORD CONN.

STOPPER-PUL LING PLI-ERS.- v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 297,658, dated April 29, 1884.

Y Application filed March 5, 18l4. (No model.)

' in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stopper-Pulling Pliers; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, whereby a person skilled in the art can make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Like letters in the figures indicate the same parts.

Figurel is a view of what may be called the upper side of our improved-device; show-.

ing it as in use in the first step of the process of removing a stopper from a bottle, the latter being in section. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same devicesand parts (except the ends of the lever-handles that are broken away) in position in a further step in the act of remov- Fig. 3 is a view in crosssection through the pivot of the levers on plane denoted by line as w of Fig. 2. Fig. at is a .view in oross-section of the jaws of the device on plane denoted by line 3 y of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail side view of the button on the stopper, the rubber valve removed. Fig. 6 is a dego/tail plan view of one ofthe rubber disk-shaped valves used in the style of stopper shown. Fig. 7 is a detail side view of the jaws of our device, showing the device in use for putting a valve onto the stopper. Fig. 8 is a detail view in cross-section of the parts on plane denoted by line 2 z of Fig. 7.

Our improvement is particularly adapted for use with the class of bottle-stoppers in which the stopper opens inwardly, and bears, usually upon the inner end of the wire forming the elastic body of the stopper, a diskshaped valve of in'dia-rubber. It comprises in one and the same tool devices and means for readily removing such a stopper from the bottle, and also means for attaching the rubber valve to the stopper-body, as more particularly hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes a pair of levers, b a, connected by pivot d in such manner that a pressure upon the handles in the usual manner opens the jaws b c, which are held in a closed position by means of a spring, 0, fast to one of the handles at a point back of the pivot. One of these handles, 12, we term the fulcrum lever, and its jaw 12 is flat and broad, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and this jaw is forked, with the inner surfaces tapering lengthwise and depthwise of the handle. The other handle, 0, bears upon the end which projects beyond the fulcrum-lever a hook, c and the back of this jaw is rounded and tapered, substantially as illustrated in the drawings. 7 In order to properly clean a bottle provided with the class of stoppers shown in the drawings, the stopper must be removed, and to efi'e'ct this removal of the stopper prior to our invention was a matter of considerable difficulty; but by means of our improvement, as herein shown and described, such stoppers are readily removed. To do this the narrow jaw 0 of our device is inserted in the mouth of a bottle, 9, and the hook a thrust under the bend of the loop f of the stopper f, and used to pull the stopper outward to the. position shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1. The jaw o is then thrust through the loop, the fulcrum-jaw b sliding onto the top of the bottle, while the sides of the loop pass between the jaws to the position .shown in Fig. 2. By pressing together the, handles the jaws are opened, and the stopper is then drawn past the contracted mouth of the bottle, as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 2, and is then readily removed, the whole operation being easily and quickly performed without injury to the parts. The tapered sides of the'opening in the lower jaw, 11, by contact with the sides of the wire frame of the stopper,'aid in compressing the frame and decrease its lateral pressure upon the bottle-mouth as the stopper is being withdrawn. The tool is also provided with a hammerhead, h, made integral with the lower jaw justbelow the pivot, and this hammer is of use in breaking the necks from bottles which by being partly broken are rendered useless,

IOO

distended to allow the central opening, 7;, to be I one jaw bearing a hook, substantially as debuttoned upon the stud. As these rubber disks are somewhat dilficult to distend, our tool is provided with a stretching device, Z, consisting of the prongs Z P, projecting laterally from the jaws, which prongs, when the jaws are closed, may be thrust into the central opening, k, of the disk, which disk, when the jaws are open, as by pressure upon the leverhandles, is distended, as shown in Figs. 7 and S, to such an extent that the lower flange of the stud may be thrust into the opening between the prongs and buttoned into the disk.

'The first position of the stopper in this operation of placing the valve upon the stud on its lower end is indicated by the dotted outline in Fig. 7.

\Ve claim as our invention 1. As an improved article of manufacture, stopper-drawing pliers consisting of a leverhandle having a forked jaw and a lever-handle having a hook-bearing jaw pivotally connected, and operating substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination, pivoted levers with jaws opening under pressure upon the handles, and

scribed, and for the purpose set forth.

3. I11 combination, lever 12, with a forked jaw,b, lever c, with the jaw 0, bearing the hook c, and the pivot d, all substantially as described.

4. In combination, the pivotally-conneeted lever-handles I) and c, with jaws bearing. the

laterally-projecting valve-stretching device Z,

all substantially as described.

5. In combination, the fulcrum-lever b, having the forked jaw b and hammer-head 71, the lever c, with elongated jaw 0, bearing the hook c and the pivot d, all substantially as described.

6. In combination, a fulcrum-lever, I), having a forked jaw, b, with a lateral prong, Z, a lever, 0, having a jaw, c, with a hook, c, and lateral prong Z, and a pivot, d, all substantially as described.

BELLAMY A. BACON. JAMES \V. BOARDMAN.

\Vitnesses:

Urns. L. BURDET'I, En. F. DIMOOK. 

